Project Ph-1 Report

A SURVEY ON SYNCHRONISATION FAILURE IN POWER GRID
BMS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & MANAGEMENT

Yelahanka, Bengaluru – 560 064
Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Literature Survey on:
“Detecting Power Grid Synchronization failure on Sensing

Frequency and Voltage Beyond Limit”
Submitted By:
1. Mohammad Jalil Rezaee(1BY15EE066)

2. Dawood Rasa(1BY15EE064)
3. Sagar P(1BY15EE049)
4. Jai Krishnan(1BY15EE024)
Under the Guidance of
Babu Naik
2018-2019
BMS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & MANAGEMENT
BENGALURU-560064
BMSIT&M,EEE 1
Student Project Assessment and Review Committee

Literature Survey
Batch No: Guide Name: Submission Date:
EEE-B13 Babu Naik 24/11/2018
Detecting Power Grid Synchronization Failure on sensing Frequency or Voltage

Beyond Acceptable Range
Sl No USN Name
1 1BY15EE049 SAGAR P
2 1BY15EE066 MOHAMMAD JALIL REZAEE
3 1BY15EE064 DAWOOD RASA
4 1BY15EE024 JAI KRISHNAN.V
Project Execution Place In-house /Industry
Research, Product development, Industrial Live Project,

Project Category
Application Project
Signature of Guide
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ABSTRACT
In this project we are going to implement the use of up-to-date

technology in sensing the very low variations in frequency or voltage
magnitude of a generator in a Power grid in which there may be many
generators working in synchronism with the grid in terms of phase
sequence, voltage magnitude and frequency. In today’s practical Power
grid as we all know many generators or power source are working
together and to maintain stability between all the detection and isolation
of the sources falling out of synchronism is of crucial significance as
otherwise it would have caused the entire system to fail. Hence various
techniques have been developed in industries and power plants
(especially solar power plants) to keep all the generators and sources in
synchronism with the Power Grid and in case of and failure detect and
isolate the failed generator out of the grid and hence maintain a stable
operation of the Power System.
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“LITERATURE SURVEY ON DETECTION OF

POWER GRID SYNCHRONISATION FAILURE
ON SENSING FREQUENCY AND VOLTAGE
BEYOND LIMITS”
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INTRODUTION
The project is designed to develop a system to detect the synchronization

failure of any external supply source to the power grid on sensing the
abnormalities in frequency and voltage.
There are several power generation units connected to the grid such as
hydel, thermal, solar etc. to supply power to the load. These generating
units need to supply power according to the rules of the grid. These rules
involve maintaining a voltage variation within limits and also the
frequency.
If there is any deviation from the acceptable limit of the grid it is mandatory
that the same feeder should automatically get disconnected from the grid
which by effect is termed as islanding. This prevents in large scale brown
out or black out of the grid power. So it is preferable to have a system
which can warn the grid in advance so that alternate arrangements are kept
on standby to avoid complete grid failure.
This system is based on a microcontroller of 8051 family. The

microcontroller monitors the under/over voltage being derived from a set
of comparators. As the frequency of the mains supply cannot be changed,
the project uses a variable frequency generator (555-timer) for changing
the frequency, while a standard variac is used to vary the input voltage to
test the functioning of the project.
A lamp load (indicating a predictable blackout, brownout) is being driven

from the microcontroller in case of voltage/frequency going out of
acceptable range.
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Further the project can be enhanced by using power electronic devices to

isolate the grid from the erring supply source by sensing cycle by cycle
deviation for more sophisticated means of detection.
WHAT IS SYNCHRONIZATION?
In an alternating current electric power system, synchronization is the process of

matching the speed and frequency of a generator or other source to a running
network. An AC generator cannot deliver power to an electrical grid unless it is
running at the same frequency as the network. If two segments of a grid are
disconnected, they cannot exchange AC power again until they are brought back
into exact synchronization.
A direct current (DC) generator can be connected to a power network by
adjusting its open-circuit terminal voltage to match the network voltage, by either
adjusting its speed or its field excitation. The exact engine speed is not critical.
However, an AC generator must match both the amplitude and the timing of the
network voltage, which requires both speed and excitation to be systematically
controlled for synchronization. This extra complexity was one of the arguments
against AC operation during the War of Currents in the 1880s. In modern grids,
synchronization of generators is carried out by automatic systems
SIGNIFICANCE OF SINCHRONISATION IN POWER

SYSTEM
Reliability
Several small units are more reliable than single large unit. This is because, if one
alternator is failed, other alternators are still active and hence the whole system
will not be shutdown.
Continuity of Service
In case of periodic maintenance, break-down, or repairs of one alternator, it must
be shutdown and removed from service. Since the other machines are operating
in parallel, the interruption to supply the load is prevented.
Load Requirements
The load requirements in the central station changes continuously. During light-
load periods only one or two generators are operated to supply the load demands.
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During peak-load demands, other alternators are connected in parallel to meet the
demand.
High Efficiency
Generators run most efficiently when they are loaded at their rated values. Due to
the operation of few generators at light-loads and more generators at high peak
loads efficiently loads the generators.
Expanded Capacity
As the demand for electric power is increasing continuously, utility companies

have been increasing the physical size of the generating plants by adding more
alternators. So these alternators have to be connected in parallel with the existing
generator equipment.
Conditions for Synchronization or Paralleling of Generators

There are certain requirements that must be met for successful paralleling of
alternators. The following conditions must be met in order to synchronize a
generator to the grid or with other generators.
Phase Sequence
The phase sequence of the three phases of the alternator which is being connected
to the power system bus must be same as the phase sequence of the three phases
of the bus bar (or electric grid). This problem comes mainly in the event of initial
installation or after maintenance.
Voltage Magnitude
The RMS voltage of the incoming alternator should be same as the RMS voltage
of the bus bar or electric grid. If the incoming alternator voltage is more than the
bus bar voltage, there will be a high reactive power that flows from the generator
into the grid.
If the incoming alternator voltage is lower than the bus bar voltage, generator
absorbs the high reactive power from the bus bar.
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Frequency
The frequency of the incoming generator must be equal to the frequency of the
bus bar. Improper matching of frequency results high acceleration and
deceleration in the prime mover that increases the transient torque.
Phase Angle
The phase angle between the incoming generator voltage and voltage of the bus
bar should be zero. This can be observed by comparing the occurrence of zero
crossing or peaks of the voltage waveforms.
Techniques for Synchronization
There are different techniques being available for the synchronization of

alternators. The primary purpose of these techniques is to check all four
conditions discussed above. The common methods used for synchronizing the
alternators are given below.
1. Three Dark Lamps Method
2. Two Bright, One Dark Method
3. Synchroscope Method
Three Dark Lamps Method
The figure below shows the circuit for bright lamp method used to synchronize
the alternators. Assume that alternator is connected to the load supplying rated
voltage and frequency to it. Now the alternator-2 is to be connected in parallel
with alternator-1.
Three lamps (each of which is rated for alternator terminal voltage) are connected
across the switches of the alternator-2. From the figure it is clear that the moment
when all the conditions of parallel operation are satisfied, the lamps should be
more or less dark.
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To synchronize the alternator-2 with bus bar, the prime mover of the alternator-2
is driven at speed close to the synchronous speed decided by the bus bar frequency
and number of poles of the alternator.
Now the field current of the generator-2 is increased till voltage across the
machine terminals is equal to the bus bar voltage (by observing the readings on
voltmeters).
If lamps go ON and OFF concurrently, indicating that the phase sequence of

alternator-2 matches with bus bar. On the other hand, if they ON and OFF one
after another, it resembles the incorrect phase sequence.
By changing the connections of any two leads of alternator-2 after shutting down
the machine, the phase sequence can be changed.
Depending on the frequency difference between alternator-2 voltage and bus bar
voltage, ON and OFF rate of these lamps is decided. Hence, the rate of flickering
has to be reduced to match the frequency. This is possible by adjusting the speed
of alternator by its prime mover control.
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When all these parameters are set, the lamps become dark and then the
synchronizing switch can be closed to synchronize alternator-2 with alternator-1.
The main disadvantage of this method is that rate of flickering only indicates the
difference between the alternator-2 and the bus bar. But the information of
alternator frequency in relation to bus bar frequency is not available in this
method.
Suppose, if the bus bar frequency is 50Hz, the rate of flickering of lamps is same
when the frequency of the alternator is either 51 or 49 Hz, as the difference in
these two cases is 1Hz.
Two Bright and One Dark Lamp Method
The connections for this method are shown in figure below and it is useful in
finding whether the alternator frequency is lower or higher than the bus bar
frequency.
Here, the lamp L2 is connected across the pole in the middle line of synchronizing
switch as similar to the dark lamp method, whereas the lamps L1 and L3 are
connected in a transposed manner.
The voltage condition checking is similar to the previous method and after it, the
lamps glow bright and dark one after another. The lower or higher value of
alternator frequency in comparison with bus bar frequency is determined by the
sequence in which the lamps become dark and bright.
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The sequence of becoming bright and dark L1- L2 – L3 indicates that the
incoming generator frequency is higher than the bus bar frequency. Hence, the
alternator speed has to be reduced by prime mover control till the flickering rate
is brought down to a small.
On the other hand, the sequence flickering L1- L3 – L2 indicates that incoming
alternator frequency is less than that of bus bar.
Hence, the speed of the alternator is increased by the prime mover till the rate of
flickering is brought down to as small as possible. The synchronizing switch is
then closed at the instant when lamps L1 and L3 are equally bright and lamp L2
is dark.
The disadvantage of this method is that the correctness of phase sequence cannot
be checked. However, this requirement is unnecessary for permanently connected
alternators where checking of phase sequence is enough to be carried out for the
first time of operation alone.
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Synchroscope Method
It is similar to the two bright and one dark lamp method and indicates whether
the alternator frequency is higher or lower than the bus bar frequency. A
synchroscope is used for better accuracy of synchronization and it consists of two
pairs of terminals.
One pair of terminals marked as ‘existing’ has to be connected across the bus bar
terminals or to the existing alternator and other pair of terminals marked as
‘incoming’ has to be connected across the terminals of incoming alternator.
The synchroscope has circular dial over which a pointer is hinged that is capable
of rotating in clockwise and anticlockwise directions.
After the voltage condition is checked, the operator has to check the
synchroscope. The rate at which the pointer rotates indicates the difference of
frequency between the incoming alternator and the bus bar.
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Also, the direction to which the pointer rotates (to either fast or slow) gives the
information, whether the incoming alternator frequency is higher or lower than
the bus bar frequency and hence the pointer moves either fast or slow.
The appropriate correction has to be made to control the speed of the alternator
so as to bring the rate of rotation of pointer as small as possible. Therefore,
synchroscope along with voltmeters are enough for synchronization process.
However, in most of the cases a set of lights along with synchroscope is used as
a double-check system.
These are the methods of synchronizing the generators. This process must be done
carefully to prevent the disturbances in the power system as well as to avoid a
serious damage to the machine. Only three lamps methods are not preferred today
due to less accuracy and manual operation.
These processes need a skilled and experienced person to handle the equipment
while synchronizing. In most cases synchroscope method with set of lamps is
used as mentioned above.
Modern synchronization equipments automate the whole synchronization process

with the use of microprocessor based systems that avoids manual lamps and
synchroscope observations. These methods are easier to manage and more
reliable.
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SEARCH STRATEGY
Synchronization failure detection is very important from safety point of view.

There are always possibilities of occurrences of various types of faults in a power
system which may cause disturbances in voltage magnitude and frequency
variation by introducing harmonics of various orders in the system depending
upon the nature of fault and also the fault location in the system.
The various faults occurring in power systems are:
Electrical faults in three-phase power system mainly classified into two types,
namely open and short circuit faults. Further, these faults can be symmetrical or
unsymmetrical faults. Let us discuss these faults in detail.
Open Circuit Faults
These faults occur due to the failure of one or more conductors. The figure below
illustrates the open circuit faults for single, two and three phases (or conductors)
open condition.
The most common causes of these faults include joint failures of cables and
overhead lines, and failure of one or more phase of circuit breaker and also due
to melting of a fuse or conductor in one or more phases.
Open circuit faults are also called as series faults. These are unsymmetrical or
unbalanced type of faults except three phase open fault.
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Consider that a transmission line is working with a balanced load before the
occurrence of open circuit fault. If one of the phase gets melted, the actual loading
of the alternator is reduced and this cause to raise the acceleration of the
alternator, thereby it runs at a speed slightly greater than synchronous speed. This
over speed causes over voltages in other transmission lines.
Thus, single and two phase open conditions can produce the unbalance of the
power system voltages and currents that causes great damage to the equipments.
Causes
Broken conductor and malfunctioning of circuit breaker in one or more phases.
Effects
• Abnormal operation of the system

• Danger to the personnel as well as animals
• Exceeding the voltages beyond normal values in certain parts of the
network, which further leads to insulation failures and developing of short
circuit faults.
Although open circuit faults can be tolerated for longer periods than short circuit
faults, these must be removed as early as possible to reduce the greater damage.
Short Circuit Faults

A short circuit can be defined as an abnormal connection of very low impedance
between two points of different potential, whether made intentionally or
accidentally.
These are the most common and severe kind of faults, resulting in the flow of
abnormal high currents through the equipment or transmission lines. If these
faults are allowed to persist even for a short period, it leads to the extensive
damage to the equipment.
Short circuit faults are also called as shunt faults. These faults are caused due to
the insulation failure between phase conductors or between earth and phase
conductors or both.
The various possible short circuit fault conditions include three phase to earth,
three phase clear of earth, phase to phase, single phase to earth, two phase to earth
and phase to phase plus single phase to earth as shown in figure.
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The three phase fault clear of earth and three phase fault to earth are balanced or
symmetrical short circuit faults while other remaining faults are unsymmetrical
faults.
Causes
These may be due to internal or external effects
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• Internal effects include breakdown of transmission lines or equipment,

aging of insulation, deterioration of insulation in generator, transformer and
other electrical equipments, improper installations and inadequate design.
• External effects include overloading of equipments, insulation failure due
to lighting surges and mechanical damage by public.
Effects
• Arcing faults can lead to fire and explosion in equipments such as

transformers and circuit breakers.
• Abnormal currents cause the equipments to get overheated, which further
leads to reduction of life span of their insulation.
• The operating voltages of the system can go below or above their acceptance
values that creates harmful effect to the service rendered by the power
system.
• The power flow is severely restricted or even completely blocked as long as
the short circuit fault persists.
Symmetrical and Unsymmetrical Faults
As discussed above that faults are mainly classified into open and short circuit
faults and again these can be symmetrical or unsymmetrical faults.
Symmetrical Faults
A symmetrical fault gives rise to symmetrical fault currents that are displaced
with 1200 each other. Symmetrical fault is also called as balanced fault. This fault
occurs when all the three phases are simultaneously short circuited.
These faults rarely occur in practice as compared with unsymmetrical faults. Two
kinds of symmetrical faults include line to line to line (L-L-L) and line to line to
line to ground (L-L-L-G) as shown in figure below.
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A
rough occurrence of symmetrical faults is in the range of 2 to 5% of the total
system faults. However, if these faults occur, they cause a very severe damage to
the equipments even though the system remains in balanced condition.
The analysis of these faults is required for selecting the rupturing capacity of the
circuit breakers, choosing set-phase relays and other protective switchgear. These
faults are analyzed on per phase basis using bus impedance matrix or Thevenins’s
theorem.
Unsymmetrical Faults
The most common faults that occur in the power system network are
unsymmetrical faults. This kind of fault gives rise to unsymmetrical fault currents
(having different magnitudes with unequal phase displacement). These faults are
also called as unbalanced faults as it causes unbalanced currents in the system.
Up to the above discussion, unsymmetrical faults include both open circuit faults
(single and two phase open condition) and short circuit faults (excluding L-L-L-
G and L-L-L).
The figure below shows the three types of symmetrical faults occurred due to the
short circuit conditions, namely phase or line to ground (L-G) fault, phase to
phase (L-L) fault and double line to ground (L-L-G) fault.
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A single line-to-ground (LG) fault is one of the most common faults and
experiences show that 70-80 percent of the faults that occur in power system are
of this type. This forms a short circuit path between the line and ground. These
are very less severe faults compared to other faults.
A line to line fault occur when a live conductor get in contact with other live
conductor. Heavy winds are the major cause for this fault during which swinging
of overhead conductors may touch together. These are less severe faults and its
occurrence range may be between 15-20%.
In double line to ground faults, two lines come into the contact with each other as
well as with ground. These are severe faults and the occurrence these faults is
about 10% when compared with total system faults.
Unsymmetrical faults are analyzed using methods of unsymmetrical components

in order to determine the voltage and currents in all parts of the system. The
analysis of these faults is more difficult compared to symmetrical faults.
This analysis is necessary for determining the size of a circuit breaker for largest
short circuit current. The greater current usually occurs for either L-G or L-L
fault.
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Considering all the above types of faults of different nature and sources the
protection schemes to provide reliable protection against various types of faults
mentioned above are of different types.
Each protection scheme provides protection against different kinds of faults while
being almost insensitive to other types of faults.
Protection Devices against Faults

When the fault occurs in any part of the system, it must be cleared in a very short
period in order to avoid greater damage to equipments and personnel and also to
avoid interruption of power to the customers.
The fault clearing system uses various protection devices such as relays and
circuit breakers to detect and clear the fault.
Some of these fault clearing or faults limiting devices are given below.
Fuse
It opens the circuit whenever a fault exists in the system. It consists of a thin
copper wire enclosed in a glass or a casing with two metallic contacts. The high
fault current rises the temperature of the wire and hence it melts. A fuse
necessitates the manual replacement of wire each time when it blows.
Circuit Breaker
It is the most common protection device that can make or break the circuit either
manually or through remote control under normal operating conditions.
There are several types of circuit breakers available depending on the operating
voltage, including air brake, oil, vacuum and SF6 circuit breakers. For more
information on circuit breakers, follow the link attached.
Protective Relays
These are the fault detecting devices. These devices detect the fault and initiate
the operation of the circuit breaker so as to isolate the faulty circuit. A relay
consists of a magnetic coil and contacts (NC and NO). The fault current energizes
the coil and this causes to produce the field, thereby the contacts get operated.
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Some of the types of protective relays include
• Magnitude relays
• Impedance relays
• Directional relays
• Pilot relays
• Differential relays
Lighting Arrestor
Surges in the power system network caused when lightning strikes on
transmission lines and equipments. This causes high voltage and currents in the
system. These lighting faults are reduced by placing lighting arrestors at
transmission equipments.
All the above protective schemes are used for protection against different types
of faults. Each one having their own merits and demerits or advantages and
limitations.
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POWER GRID SYNCHRONIZATION FAILURE DETECTION AND

RECOVERY
An approach towards a smarter tomorrow is always an achievement and this

paper discusses how this approach helps make our power grid’s functioning
more enhanced and reliable.
The problem of islanding is a common problem when we talk about the

distribution system and hence methods that have been devised for the
prevention of possible islanding situation are grouped into following categories:
• Passive methods.
• Active methods.
These methods and their performance is characterized by certain requirements

that have been laid down by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineering (IEEE), International Electro Technical Commission (IEC) and
many other Standards Organizations.
As far as active methods are concerned, minor disturbances are introduced into
the power system and thereafter the response that the system provides is
observed and monitored. These methods result in alteration of the balance of
power existing amid generators and the load, hence reducing the quality of the
power that we obtain from the system.
There are several examples of the active method a few of them being impedance
measuring method, AFD-Active frequency drift, AFDPF-Active frequency drift
with positive feedback, APS-Whereas on the other hand passive methods
continuously monitors various parameters of the power grid like in this case
over voltage, over current, temperature variation and oil level indication.
Operating principle
In passive method the parameters may vary differently affecting the working of
the grid. Hence any source that violates the rules of grid would be immediately
terminated. But the process will not stop there because just elimination is not
enough, we need to know the reason of the fault i.e. which parameter is showing
variation is it current, voltage or any other and also, we need to determine what
the location of the fault site is from the base of grid.
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Fig.1 Basic block depicting sources, line and grid base.
Since our demonstration here depicts 3 different sources as shown in Fig.1,

meanwhile if one source misbehaves the load will be shared by the other two
sources that are connected
to the grid hence the transmission will be uninterrupted. Hence the concept of
load sharing is quite a crucial part of this demonstration. At the same time the
entire faulty line is being examined for detection of the cause of the error as
well as the distance of that fault location. section will continuously monitor the
entire system. As shown in Fig.1 different sensors have been used.
The current sensor measures the variation in current values in case a shorted or
an open line and after that it forwards this information to the controller, which
intern determines with a predetermined threshold level weather to cut off the
source or not.
The voltage sensor also operates in the similar fashion. Temperature is another
parameter which is responsible for grid failures in case it goes out of desired
ranges, hence here the sensor would monitor the temperature of the transformer
and any variation in current levels will trigger a change in the temperature
which the sensor would detect and convey the information to controller, which
again will compare it to a predetermined threshold value of temperature and
decide if to terminate the line or not.
The oil level indication also works on the same principle as above and
determines if the oil level has reduced drastically below the unaccepted range
and alerts the grid about the same.
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After the cause of fault has been determined and displayed at the grid hub one
more parameter is there that can be determined and can add up I easing the
complexity of recovery and maintenance and that is the distance calculation of a
shorted or an open point on the feeder line coming from three different sources.
The fault can be anywhere in the line hence being able to determine the exact
distance of the point where the fault has occurred is a task that would add up to
the effective management of the grid.
For this purpose, switches can be used at, say each kilometer and the on and off
state of a switch could help determine the fault location. Hence calculated
distance can be provided at the grid base station and physical maintenance can
be initiated within no time
Fig.2 Circuit diagram of the actual implementation
Fig.2 given above is a generalized circuit diagram for the implementation of

above-mentioned concept. Fig.2 comprises of the entire section starting from
the transformer section that shows three different sources supplying power, and
then comes the transmission lines section that consists of three different lines
connecting to the controller separately, these lines are being continuously
monitored by the sensors namely a current sensor, voltage sensing unit, oil level
detection and temperature sensing unit which have been depicted in the leftmost
section of fig.2. The controller section however acts as the grid base, taking all
the crucial decisions regarding the safety of the grid.
Whenever the controller section encounters any variation in the predetermined
limits set for each of the parameters it issues a signal that is directed to the LCD
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section and that particular alert message is then displayed and at the same time
the source that has been creating this abnormality is also detected and
temporarily eliminated from the grid hence safeguarding the failure of entire
grid. The relay unit
has been employed for the purpose of elimination of the disturbing source
temporarily. The switches on the other hand that have been employed on the
transmission line section are the fault detection switches that would let us
calculate the distance to the fault site, the controller section would be providing
this information to the display unit hence telling us the exact distance of the
occurrence of a shorted line or an open line accordingly hence the maintenance
work can be started thereafter
Advantages of the above configuration
Maintaining a power grid online 24hrs and keeping it efficient and effective at
the same time is quite a tough task seeing the complexity of the grids. Hence
our implementation offers a way in which it would become quite effective to
run the maintenance process and recover the grid back into normal functioning
in cases of occurrences of faults.
• Current overload detection.
• Voltage overload detection.
• Temperature variation & oil level indication.
• Distance determination from grid to fault site.
With all this precise information at the doorsteps of the grid base it becomes
convenient to run the maintenance and recovery tasks.
Knowing the fault location precisely enables the physical workforce to
manually correct it and at the same time when the fault in line is corrected the
grid would immediately sense this and the source and the feeder line that was
previously terminated would be again recovered and connected back to the grid
hence restoring the entire balance.
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Drawbacks of the system
• When we talk about distribution lines, one major drawback is they are
earthed at the substations, so when the generation unit and lines get
disconnected the line no longer remains earthed hence causing voltage
overloads.
• If the distribution lines are short circuited, then the large amount of
current will flow leading to current overload.
• Due to islanding one major problem grid faces is that of establishing a
reconnection with the source as at that time both source and grid might
be out of synchronization hence resulting in huge power flows that could
possibly cause damage to grid, to lines, stations and consumer units
Conclusion
This implementation concludes that it is possible to have a power grid system

that is smarter, more effective as well as efficient in its operation, thus proving
to be more economical as compared to be the present installations.
The challenge is a continuous and uninterrupted transmission which can be very

well achieved with the implementation described by this paper and in addition
to the continuous transmission several other parameters i.e. the passive
parameters are being monitored regularly and any discrepancies occurring in
these, are taken into account and accordingly worked upon thus making the
process of management and recovery convenient and effective
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DETECTION OF POWER GRID SYNCHRONIZATION FAILURE ON

SENSING FREQUENCY AND VOLTAGE BEYOND ACCEPTABLE
RANGE AND LOAD PROTECTION
Synchronization detection of failures
Power grids are vast complex networks that make up a large part of an
infrastructure. Many precautions are taken, and operators hired to maintain
reliability, however three fourths of power outages are caused by operator
errors.
These errors can be avoided by automatic adjustments based on models of the

grid system. The model explored is ensuring generator synchronization within
the system. Finally, not only will the grid not have destructive interference,
constructive interference will occur which increases the total power the grid can
produce which optimizes the grid.
The objective of this paper is to detect the failure of synchronization in power

grid. This is a demonstration devised to provide such kind of a system that
could detect the failure in synchronous working of the power grid in case any
external supply source that is supplying to the grid is encountering any kind of
abnormalities may be in frequency and voltage levels.
This detecting power grid synchronization failure system on sensing frequency

or voltage beyond the acceptable range could be used in that power houses
where different supply sources are connected parallel together to fulfill the
energy demand.
This system could be used in home automation system, where the consumer has
different energy sources such as solar or wind energy. By using this system,
the consumer load could be automatically shifted to another source of energy.
Power grid synchronization
Synchronization means the minimization of difference in voltage, frequency and

phase angle between the corresponding phases of the generator output and grid
supply This system is more compact and reliable as compared to the manual
system. This system is less expensive as compared to the other systems
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The necessity for synchronizing and parallel generator operation is often based
on the following:
• The rated generating capacity of an existing system has been exceeded

by new load demands.
• Enhanced reliability (multiple generating vs. single unit generating) is
to be considered.
• Operating efficiency of generator sets is a valid concern.
Conditions of synchronization are Voltage fluctuation, Voltage magnitude,

Phase sequence, Frequency, Phases Synchronization Limits are
• Phase angle - +/-20 degrees

• Maximum voltage difference - 0.7%
• Maximum slip frequency - 0.44%
Synchronizing a generator to the power system must be done carefully. The

speed (frequency) and voltage of the isolated generator must be closely
matched, and the rotor angle must be close to the instantaneous power system
phase angle prior to closing the generator breaker to connect the isolated
generator to the power system
Black Out
Two severe power blackouts affected most of northern and eastern India on 30
and 31 July 2012. The blackout on 31 July is the largest power outage in
history. Reasons of black out are
• Inter-regional power transmission corridors due to multiple existing

outages (both scheduled and forced)
• Weak High loading on 400 kV Bina–Gwalior–Agra link
• Inadequate response by State Load Dispatch Centres (SLDCs) to the
instructions of Regional Load Dispatch Centres (RLDCs) .
Previous analysis summary
• Several future grid developments are expected:
BMSIT&M,EEE 28
• Increased use of renewable variable generation at both the bulk and

distributed level;
• Profound involvement of customers in all aspects of electricity
generation and uses;
• Increased penetration of automation at both the distribution and
transmission level;
• More comprehensive planning strategies that will deploy risk-based
techniques to cope with uncertainty.
• Physical security and Cyber security will play a never increasing role
in all future grid developments.
• Advancements in the materials ranging from superconductive
compounds to new nano scale structures will be a continued quest in
the future. This will result in provision of societies energy needs in a
way that is sustainable for the 21st century and beyond.
This system is applicable for Solar Power Plant where frequency varies;
frequency and voltage parameters should match with the Power grid.
Microcontroller having various applications by changing the program.
This research work seeks to design automatic and efficient fault detection and
location system for both overhead and underground power transmission
network system using both existing fault indicator technology and commercially
proven communication technology to quickly and accurately pin point faulted
sections of a transmission system.
Difficulties Faced While Synchronizing Alternators to Electrical Gr
Often electrical generators are removed from the service and connected back to
the power system during variations of the load, emergency outages,
maintenance, etc. Before reconnecting the generator to the system in each time,
it must be synchronized with parameters of the power system network.
An improper synchronization can affect the healthy power system and results in
electrical and mechanical transients that can damage the prime mover,
generator, transformers and other power system components.
The researchers showed that the stability of synchronized states in power grids
can be enhanced by tuning generator parameters rather than modifying the
entire network. Hence in this paper we are monitoring the parameters like
frequency and voltage and detecting the change in the parameterizes done by
using an Arduino microcontrollers and variation in frequency and voltage are
BMSIT&M,EEE 29
sensed and send as a message to the field engineers by GSM and GPS
technologies.
A GSM modem is a specialized type of modem which accepts a SIM card, and
operates over a subscription to a mobile operator, just like a mobile phone.
From the mobile operator perspective, a GSM modem looks just like a mobile
phone.
When a GSM modem is connected to a computer, this allows the computer to

use the GSM modem to communicate over the mobile network. While these
GSM modems are most frequently used to provide mobile internet connectivity,
many of them can also be used for sending and receiving SMS and MMS
messages.
Block diagram
Fig -1: block diagram
Main components
• Power supply unit

• Arduino Uno Microcontroller
• LCD
• Crystal Resistors
• Capacitors
BMSIT&M,EEE 30
• Diodes
• Transformer
• Potentiometer
• Relay
• GSM Rectifier
• Module and GPS system
• Current Sensor
• Lamp load
Operation
The voltage, frequency must be controlled each and every time and the load
share units continuously monitor the load and during low demand periods one
or two generators will be shut down to save on power consumption.
As demand rises again the second and third generators will be restarted,
synchronized and reconnected to load and also if the combined output of all the
generators cannot supply enough power then the frequency will drop for entire
grid. All the generators slow down just like our car engine on a hill. Hence in
this paper the detection of the load for synchronization and voltage, frequency
detections
Due to light ON the display is shown as “HEAVY LOAD” And message is sent
to phone through GSM. The acting Engineer in the field who receive this can
restart the other generators and reconnected it to the load in order to satisfy load
demand.
BMSIT&M,EEE 31
Fig -3: Hardware Implementation
Figure shows the Detection of power grid synchronization failure on sensing

frequency and voltage beyond acceptable range and automatic load protection
by tripping. In this 230v power supply is given to the step down transformer.
Rating of the transformer is 12v.
It can be given to bride rectifier which consists of rectifier, filter and a voltage
regulator. Rectifier converts the ac into dc and filter gives the pure dc signal by
blocking ripples. Microcontroller receives this DC power from rectifiers. The
output of the microcontroller is connected to16×2 LCD Display. In case one for
proper synchronization load testing is done by connecting Heavy load lamp of
20W and for light load LED are connected.
For voltage detection by using GSM and GPS interface technology a GSM
module is connected to microcontroller. A Pot is connected at the input of the
microcontroller. By varying pot the voltage changes after reaching the
acceptable voltage the LCD displays trip voltage. The relay circuit will be
opened and the lamp will be protected The frequency variation is shown before
tripping.
The light will flicker before it turned OFF.
Advantages of the system
• Here we can use, beyond the acceptable range could be used in that
power houses where different supply sources are connected parallel
together to fulfil the energy demand
BMSIT&M,EEE 32
• By using this system, the consumer load could be automatically shifted

to another source of energy.
• This system is more compact and reliable as compared to the manual

system.
• It secured the power of the grid coming from different power stations by
detecting the abnormal conditions of frequency and voltage beyond its
acceptable
• It prevents the synchronization failure between power grid and feeder.
Conclusion
A simple simulation case is studied at the end in order to give a better

understanding of the overall system performance under grid faulty conditions.
This work showed that the micro-grid architecture is a viable solution for
including distributed generation in a power system.
This implementation concludes that it is possible to have a power grid system

that is smarter, more effective as well as efficient in its operation, thus proving
to be more economical as compared to be the present installations.
The challenge is a continuous and uninterrupted transmission which can be very

well achieved with the implementation described by this paper and in addition
to the continuous transmission several other parameters i.e. the passive
parameters are being monitored regularly and any discrepancies occurring in
these, are taken into account and accordingly worked upon thus making the
process of management and recovery convenient and effective .This system is
less expensive as compared to the other systems
BMSIT&M,EEE 33
DETECTION OF POWER GRID SYNCHRONIZATION FAILURE BY

SENSING BAD VOLTAGE AND FREQUENCY
This project is based on the Atmega 16 family microcontroller. The system

presents the development of microcontroller-based islanding detection for
power generating unit connected to the power grid. If any kind of abnormalities
on the constant working of power grid it gets detected by set of comparators i.e.
ZCD (Zero Crossing detection) circuit.
The system used variable frequency generator using timer IC 555 for changing
the frequency of supply while a standard variac used for changing supply
voltage also observing test conditions by a lamp load being driven by relay
driver IC ULN2003 from the microcontroller output as state above 1.1 Concept
of Grid an Electric grid is a network which can consume synchronize power
from distributed generation unit and
deliver or provide to the load that are connected by transmission and

distribution line. Also, it is network of cables or pipes for distributing high
voltage power. Grid is a center of power transmission from that power is
transmitted over all the area.
In a synchronous grid all the generators are connected in parallel and run not
only at same frequency but also at the same phase. Grid failure or power
blackout is the total loss of power to an area. Blackout which result from or
result in power station tripping are particularly difficult to recover quickly.
Power outage or blackout may last from a few minutes to a few weeks
depending on the nature of blackout and configuration of electric network.
Concept of Synchronization
Synchronization is the process of the closing the circuit breaker after matching
the generator frequency, phase angle and voltage magnitude with grid
frequency, phase angle and voltage magnitude respectively.
The synchronization is not done in ac generator unless it is running at same

frequency as that frequency of grid and the dc generator have to adjust its open
circuit terminal voltage to synchronize with grid voltage.
BMSIT&M,EEE 34
Islanding
Islanding is an unsafe condition which occur on grid, in which extra feeding of

power is done to grid from distributed generator unit, even though the utility of
power from grid is down. Also, when the islanding occur on grid feeder is get
open to secure the grid from the blackout or grid failure.
Detection of Power Grid Failure
The basic principle of this project is to detect the grid synchronization and
sensing the voltage and frequency beyond range. The system is based on a
microcontroller family.
The microcontroller monitors the under/over voltage derived from a set of

comparators and under/over frequency from by the interrupt program for the
utility grid and the processed value of voltage and frequency for turning
ON/OFF the relay between a grid connected inverter and the utility grid
Block Diagram
Fig -1: Block Diagram
Components
Hardware Requirements
• ATmega16Microcontroller • LCD
• (Op-Amps)555timer IC • Crystal
BMSIT&M,EEE 35
• Resistors • Capacitors
• Relay Driver • Transformer

IC (ULN 2003
• Lamp • Relay
• Optocoupler • Standard
Variac
• ZCD
Software Requirements
• Keil compiler
• Language: Embedded C or Assembly.
Working
The main purpose of this project is to detect the grid synchronization by sensing
the voltage and frequency which are not in an acceptable range, and then
stopping the power supply towards the distribution system i.e. the supply
towards the feeders. In this project we used the grid synchronizing technique is
zero crossing detection.
In this system, the main supply is given to the transformer which is step down to
230v/24v then that 24v AC supply is given to the zero-crossing detector through
bridge rectifier and the full wave rectifier is used for the rectification purpose.
After rectification is done that dc is given to the capacitor which is used as
filter.
Then given to voltage regulator IC LM 7805 that convert supply into 5V,
1Amp. After this total process the 5V DC supply is given to the ATmega16
microcontroller. The ZCD (zero crossing detector) used as a comparator for
monitoring the under/over voltages and monitor the natural frequency. A
standard variac is used to vary the input voltage and as it is not possible to
change the frequency of the mains supply so here a variable frequency generator
BMSIT&M,EEE 36
(555timer IC) is used for varying the frequency range to test the functioning of
the project.
The relay is controlled by the relay driver IC (ULN 2003), which is connected
to the microcontroller. The lamp is connected to the relay contacts for indicating
the predictable blackout and brownout.
Result and Observation
Table -1: Observation Table
Observation Table
Parameters Voltage (Volts) Frequency (H z)
Limits
Over Limits 240 52.5
Constant Limit 230 50
Under Limits 220 47.5
From the above observation table, it is observed that the tolerance of voltage is
± 10 volt and tolerance of frequency is ±2.5 as per standard. Normally the range
of the voltage and frequency is 230 volt and 50Hz respectively according to
Indian standard. In this paper according to the results we observed the following
conditions.
Condition 1: When supply is constant that is 230 volts, 50Hz then we get
constant sinusoidal waveform as output which is as shown below
Voltage: (230volt), Frequency: (50Hz)
BMSIT&M,EEE 37
Fig-2: Stable sinusoidal waveform
Condition 2: When given supply voltage is below tolerance limit that is below
220 volts then we get the sine waveform with reducing magnitude as shown
below.
Fig-3: Sinusoidal waveform with decrease in amplitude
Condition 3: When given supply voltage is above tolerance limit that is above
240 volts then we get the sine waveform with increasing magnitude as shown
below.
BMSIT&M,EEE 38
Fig-4: Sinusoidal waveform with increase in amplitude
Condition 4: Similarly, when frequency is above tolerance limit we get large

number of oscillation in sinusoidal waveform as shown below.
Fig-5: Sinusoidal waveform with increase in frequency
Condition 5: When frequency is below tolerance limit we get less number of

oscillation in sinusoidal waveform as shown below.
Fig-6: Sinusoidal waveform with decrease in frequency
BMSIT&M,EEE 39
Conclusions
This paper gives brief idea about developing a system to detect the
synchronization failure of any external supply source to the power grid on
sensing the bad voltage and frequency.
Number of distributed generators connected in parallel to the grid, to supply

power to the load. Each generator having follow the rules of grid. These rules
involve maintaining a voltage and frequency variation within limits.
When any fault occurs on grid and due to this grid broken a rules and deviation
occur in voltage and frequency. When deviation occur in grid feeder is
mandatory to open from grid and this process is term as islanding. This prevent
grid failure or blackout
BMSIT&M,EEE 40

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A SURVEY ON SYNCHRONISATION FAILURE IN POWER GRID

BMS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY & MANAGEMENT

Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering

Literature Survey on:

“Detecting Power Grid Synchronization failure on Sensing

1. Mohammad Jalil Rezaee(1BY15EE066)

Under the Guidance of

Student Project Assessment and Review Committee

Batch No: Guide Name: Submission Date:

EEE-B13 Babu Naik 24/11/2018

Detecting Power Grid Synchronization Failure on sensing Frequency or Voltage

2 1BY15EE066 MOHAMMAD JALIL REZAEE

3 1BY15EE064 DAWOOD RASA

4 1BY15EE024 JAI KRISHNAN.V

Project Execution Place In-house /Industry

Research, Product development, Industrial Live Project,

In this project we are going to implement the use of up-to-date

“LITERATURE SURVEY ON DETECTION OF

The project is designed to develop a system to detect the synchronization

This system is based on a microcontroller of 8051 family. The

A lamp load (indicating a predictable blackout, brownout) is being driven

Further the project can be enhanced by using power electronic devices to

In an alternating current electric power system, synchronization is the process of

SIGNIFICANCE OF SINCHRONISATION IN POWER

As the demand for electric power is increasing continuously, utility companies

Conditions for Synchronization or Paralleling of Generators

Techniques for Synchronization

There are different techniques being available for the synchronization of

1. Three Dark Lamps Method

2. Two Bright, One Dark Method

Three Dark Lamps Method

If lamps go ON and OFF concurrently, indicating that the phase sequence of

Two Bright and One Dark Lamp Method

Modern synchronization equipments automate the whole synchronization process

Synchronization failure detection is very important from safety point of view.

The various faults occurring in power systems are:

Open Circuit Faults

Broken conductor and malfunctioning of circuit breaker in one or more phases.

• Abnormal operation of the system

Short Circuit Faults

These may be due to internal or external effects

• Internal effects include breakdown of transmission lines or equipment,

• Arcing faults can lead to fire and explosion in equipments such as

Symmetrical and Unsymmetrical Faults

Unsymmetrical faults are analyzed using methods of unsymmetrical components

Protection Devices against Faults

Some of the types of protective relays include

POWER GRID SYNCHRONIZATION FAILURE DETECTION AND

An approach towards a smarter tomorrow is always an achievement and this

The problem of islanding is a common problem when we talk about the

These methods and their performance is characterized by certain requirements

Fig.1 Basic block depicting sources, line and grid base.

Since our demonstration here depicts 3 different sources as shown in Fig.1,

Fig.2 Circuit diagram of the actual implementation

Fig.2 given above is a generalized circuit diagram for the implementation of

Advantages of the above configuration

Drawbacks of the system

This implementation concludes that it is possible to have a power grid system

The challenge is a continuous and uninterrupted transmission which can be very

DETECTION OF POWER GRID SYNCHRONIZATION FAILURE ON

Synchronization detection of failures

These errors can be avoided by automatic adjustments based on models of the

The objective of this paper is to detect the failure of synchronization in power

This detecting power grid synchronization failure system on sensing frequency